Jamshedpur, Sept. 24: The claims of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association in selecting players of genuine age seem to have come a cropper as some players, who were found over-age, have managed to get slots in the state teams.

Sources said some over-age cricketers have found berths in the state under-15 and under-22 squads with the alleged support from some JSCA officials.

“Some JSCA officials have shown ‘extra interest’ to include their favourite players, no matter if they were found over-age,” they added.

Requesting anonymity, sources said some aspirants, who had been found over-age during the age-determination tests at Apollo Hospital in Ranchi, managed to re-verify their age at the same institution on the recommendation of the sports body.

“Interestingly, the age of these aspirants was found to be genuine after the re-verification,” they added. The aspirants, a source claimed, have reportedly used their connections with some functionaries of the sports association.

“These players, who have powerful connections, apply different methods to have their way and sometimes cricket functionaries go out of their way to help them,” he added.

Citing examples, the source said the age of an under-15 aspirant from Bokaro was rejected by Apollo Hospital at the first instance. Later, the JSCA went overboard to recommend the player, along with some other aspirant’s name, to the hospital for a re-verification test. Subsequently, some of these players have found slots in the state teams.

Same is the case with some under-22 cricketers. “Was the earlier age-verification done by Apollo Hospital ‘wrong’? Or, is it something else? Moreover, why did the JSCA recommend names of the players for re-verification when they were found over-aged? These are some of the queries which need to be clarified by the JSCA,” the sources said.

Though JSCA officials were not available for comments, but Apollo Hospital superintendent P.D. Sinha admitted that age-determination tests of some under-15 cricketers had been done for the second time.

It was done on the directives of the BCCI, he added.